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COMMENTARY / World
Jul 25, 2011

Challenge to India's nuclear trade persists as suppliers group adds tighter guidelines

At the end of the second annual Indo-U.S. Strategic Dialogue held in New Delhi, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made it clear that there were "issues" that had to be resolved by India and the United States in the civil nuclear field. She did not go into specifics.
Reader Mail
Jul 24, 2011

Regret for a generation's faults

Regarding Roger Pulvers' July 3 article, "Murakami puts a bomb under his compatriots' atomic complacency": In his acceptance of the International Catalunya Prize, author Haruki Murakami came down on not only on Tokyo Electric Power Co. but also on those Japanese who are apathetic toward politics and...
Japan Times
LIFE
Jul 24, 2011

Powering Japan's future

Last year, Japan produced close to one quadrillion watt-hours of electricity — that's 1 followed by 15 zeros. The vast majority of that — which translates into one billion megawatt hours (MWh) — came from coal, natural gas and nuclear power plants operated by 10 utilities that, only a few months...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 22, 2011

The nostalgic and sweet life of Kyoto

The world of wagashi, traditional Japanese confectionery, can be a little difficult to decipher. Not a few people are rather underwhelmed by their first taste of a typical wagashi such as daifuku, a sticky rice dumpling filled with an, sweet adzuki bean paste. Even if you can get over the strangeness...
COMMENTARY
Jul 20, 2011

Murdoch's moral rise and fall

Recent U.K. phone-hacking revelations have made the Australian-born media tycoon Rupert Murdoch a symbol of all that is wrong with U.K. tabloid media — scoop mania, rampant political bias, sex, sensationalism and trivia. But it was not always like that. The Rupert Murdoch whom I knew many years ago...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 20, 2011

Kan meets soccer champs, perks up

It looks like the victory of the "Nadeshiko" Japan women's national soccer team not only gave hope to a nation still recovering from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami but also energized unpopular Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who vowed Tuesday to persevere.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 19, 2011

Murdoch's malign empire

The resignation of two key lieutenants of media mogul Rupert Murdoch and his own full-page signed apology in British newspapers — "We are sorry for the widespread wrongdoing that occurred" — is clearly a desperate attempt to save his News Corporation group from being incinerated in the firestorm...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jul 19, 2011

Japan's Nigerians pay price for prosperity

The Nigerian Union in Japan is the central civic organization for immigrants from Africa's most populous nation. It has foundered twice in 21 years and its current incarnation is less than a year old. Its mixed history is a reflection of the social and economic turmoil Japan's Nigerian community has...
COMMENTARY
Jul 18, 2011

False report hardly relieves Beijing's paranoia

For a change, the media itself is in the spotlight these days. The scandal over the illegal hacking of mobile phone messages by journalists in Britain has resulted in the closure of a venerable newspaper, the News of the World, and threatens to implicate not just reporters but politicians and the police....
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 18, 2011

India trying to woo Myanmar from China

Even as a senior Burmese diplomat in Washington has defected, Burmese prodemocracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has suggested that some people, both at home and abroad, have deceived themselves into thinking a new government has brought change to her country.
Reader Mail
Jul 14, 2011

Politico's resignation should hurt

Regarding the July 6 front-page article "Reconstruction minister quits after week": Nearly every Cabinet of the former ruling Liberal Democratic Party bore hallmarks similar to those of (Democratic Party of Japan) reconstruction minister Ryu Matsumoto, who resigned following his insensitive bluster (against...
COMMENTARY
Jul 14, 2011

The blame goes beyond a tabloid

After 168 years of titillating Britons over breakfast, the News of the World has closed. Last Sunday's edition was the tabloid's last. Allegations of police bribery and phone tapping by Britain's best-selling newspaper were met with public outrage. But are these revelations really so surprising?
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 14, 2011

A daughter of dictatorship and democracy

It is something of a cliché question in South Korea nowadays: Who would be the country's next president if the election were held tomorrow, rather than in December 2012?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Jul 12, 2011

Youth said to need voice, opinions

Lena Lindahl has for the past two decades produced environment-related events in Japan in an effort to apply her home country Sweden's notion of sustainable society here. And she believes the key is education to encourage children to develop and express opinions about issues that concern their own future....
EDITORIALS
Jul 9, 2011

A new face at the IMF

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), the world's most influential financial institution, has a new boss. Ms. Christine Lagarde, France's finance minister until her appointment last week, replaces Mr. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who stepped down amidst allegations of sexual assault. Ms. Lagarde's selection...
Japan Times
CULTURE
Jul 8, 2011

Live from Tokyo, it's Saturday Night!

Ladies and gentlemen, it's Saturday Night Live Japan!
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 8, 2011

Key to 'East Asian' health

On May 8, 2011, leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations issued a joint statement to reaffirm their commitment toward the development of a common position on global issues.
Reader Mail
Jul 7, 2011

Politicians neglect the obvious

Regarding Natsuko Fukue's July 5 article, "Matsumoto rips Tohoku governors": Newly appointed reconstruction minister Ryu Matsumoto (who resigned this post Tuesday because of his reported remarks) needs to understand some things:
COMMENTARY
Jul 7, 2011

Lebanon: another frame-up

Here we go again. The Special Tribunal for Lebanon, a United Nations-backed body investigating the killing of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri in 2005, has accused four people of his murder. They all belong to Hezbollah, the militant Lebanese Shiite movement that Israel and the United States define...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 7, 2011

Rethinking Japan's Myanmar policy

An historic meeting June 29 between parliamentary Vice Foreign Minister Makiko Kikuta and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon highlights Japan's increasing willingness to look beyond its self-interest and promote democracy in the region.
EDITORIALS
Jul 6, 2011

Mr. Thaksin wins again

Ms. Yingluck Shinawatra and her Pheu Thai party have won Thailand's parliamentary elections, claiming a commanding majority in the legislature. The results are a vindication of sorts for Ms. Shinawatra's brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, deposed in 2006 by a military coup.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 5, 2011

Are the meek set to inherit Russia?

In a recent interview, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev proclaimed that he wants a second term in office following the 2012 election, but that he would not run against Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who put him in power in the first place.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Jul 5, 2011

Disunited 'English-speaking diaspora' bites back

The Community Page received a large number of emails in response to Debito Arudou's June 7 Just Be Cause column, headlined " 'English-speaking diaspora' should unite, not backbite."
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2011

China scholar, Asia expert get Nakasone prize

A scholar of Chinese history and East Asia security policy was honored Thursday with the seventh Nakasone Yasuhiro Award.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Jun 29, 2011

Kan keeps foes on edge over resignation timetable

Prime Minister Naoto Kan's announcement Monday that he would step down after the second extra budget and two key bills are passed may, at a glance, appear as though he finally clarified when he is leaving.
EDITORIALS
Jun 27, 2011

Go-ahead for reconstruction

The Upper House on June 20 enacted a basic law for reconstruction of Tohoku-Pacific coastal areas devastated by the March 11 quake and tsunami. Besides the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, the Liberal Democratic Party, Komeito and other opposition parties supported the bill, while the Japan Communist...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 27, 2011

Japan is losing IMF game, and it isn't keeping score

Yoshihiko Noda, Japan's finance minister, is increasingly tipped as the frontrunner to take over from Naoto Kan when the prime minister finally bites the bullet and resigns.

Longform

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Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years